Floor selector-switch for electric door-operating apparatus.



- A I H. PITTS. noon SELECTOR SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC DOOR OPERATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.Z4- I9l2.

1,139,902. Patented May 18, 1915.

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FLOOR SELECTOR swnca FOR ELECTRIC noon OPERATING APPARATUS.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC-24n- I912. 1,139,902, Patented May 18, 1915.

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HOOD PITTS, 01 AUSTIN, TEXAS,

ASSIGNOR or out-HALF T0 FRANK 1vi. covnn'ryor AUSTIN, TEXAS.

FLOOR SELECTOR-SWITCH FOR ELECTRIC DOOR-OPERATING APPARATUS. I

Specification-of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1915.

Application filed December 24, 1912. Serial No. 738,494.

To allwhom it may concern:

tion with the electrically controlled door' or gate operating means for elevators of that character shown and described in my co-pending applications filed Dec. 24, 1912, Ser. No. 738,495, and Jan. 11, 1913, Sen-No. 741,604.

The present invention has for its primary object to provide a switch arranged at the floor or landing adjacent the elevator shaft normally acting to close the circuit of the dooror gate operating means to move the door to its closed position, and means carried by the car for actuating said switch to reverse the operating means and move the door to its open position.

Another'object of the invention resides in the provision of means controlled by the operator of the car for actuating the switch to open the door or gate, said means including an electro-magnet, said switch embodying means for placing the same in its normal condition to close the door or gate in the event that the car operator inadvertently neglects to energize the magnet and the car moves away from the floor or landmg:

.Still another object of the invention is to produce a switch of-the above character and cut out devices located in the circuit where-- by the lockingof'the elevator door or gate will be insured and liability of accident by the gatebeing manually opened thereby obviated.

'proceeds, the invention consists in certain constructions, combinations and arrange ments of the parts that I shall hereinafter fully describe and claim. For a full understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, in

- which-- Figure 1 is a view illustrating'a portion of an elevator car or cage and a shaft door or 'gate with its operating mechanism, my improved switch and the operating circuit being diagrammatically illustrated; Fig. 2

is' an enlarged vertical section of the floor provements; Fig. 3 is a side elevation thereselector switch embodying the present im- .70 of; Fig. 4 isa top plan View; and Fig. 5 isa perspective view of the movable contact carrylng arm.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates an elevator car of any approved form and construction and 6 indicates a por tion of one of the shaft gates or doors. This gate is operated through the medium of motor driven mechanism 7 and in the electric circuit for this motor, to belater described, cut out devices 8 and 9 are arranged to cut the motor out of the circuit and stop its operation at the end of the opening and closing movements of the door or gate. Each of these out out devices includes stationary and movable contact elements.

An electromagnet 10 is carried by the elevator car, said magnet being-supplied with current from the car lighting circuit or'other sultable supply source indicated by the numeral 11 In this circuit, a suitable operators switch 12 is arranged to open the circuit when the car is started and close the same through the electromagnet 10, when the car is stopped- At each of the floor landings, a reversible selector switch is arranged in the circuit for the gate or door operating means. The subject matter of this apphcation is confined the operating circuit is closed to reverse the 3 motor of the door or. gate operatingmechanism to move the gate to its open or closed position. To this end, I provide an angular supporting bracket 13, the base of which is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured as shown at 14, to the wall of the elevator shaft. An arm 15 of the bracket plate 13 supports the movablejelements of the switch. In the ex-' tremity ofthis arm, a rod orshaft 16 is of movement. of the elevator .car.

mounted to rotate as similar shaft 17 is also rotatably mounted in the inner end of said arm, and is disposed in parallel rela tion to the shaft 16. The extremities of the shafts 16 and 17 are connected by means of the 1inks'18 and 19, respectively, to the opposite ends of an armature plate 20. A lug 21 is formed upon. the arm 15 of the supporting bracket and inthislug an adjust able. stop bolt 22'- is threaded. This bolt limits the movement 0f..the-armature plate 20 toward the .electromagnetlflwhen. the same is energized sothatasaid plate will not engage the magnet or -projecteinto the path Upon the opposite. edges of the arm 15Lof the bracket the parallel laterally extendingplates-23 are formed: These plates areicon- 'nected by or haveintegrally. formedthere.

withthespacedparalleli ates 24;. In these latter plates, the oppose series roi'contact members 25, 25*, 25", 25 and 26, 26*, 26 26?, respectively, are movably mountedhin suitable insulating blocks arranged-in the plates 24, said contact membersbeing yieldingly supported or cushioned by. means of thecoil springs 27 arranged. upon. the shanks or. studs 28 of said members which are movable through apertures in theplates 245..- A. movable arm 29 is located between the opposed series of contact imember's. .This arm is provided at one of its ends .with-a-yokel30, the extremities of Whichextend uponzoppo' site sides of the bracket; and ;are.suitably se+ cured. upon the shaft? 16. Upon; the other end of the arm 29, the-spaced contact members 31 31 are arranged and suitably'insulat'ed from the arm 29. 'Thewmemberfil is adapted to alternately I engage the .contacts. 25- 25 or. 26 26, and the: member--31. is adapted to likewise engage the contacts .25"-25 or 26"26 inthe difierent positions of the arm-29 to .be later =described,.so asto close the circuit and operatethe. motoror the door actuating mechanism .in one direction and-close the door or-reverse the opera? tion of the :motor to open the door; In order to holdthis contact.- carrying.- arm normally in position to close-the operating circuit .for

the closing movement of the door, Iprovide a-hcavy coil spring 32 hearing at one. ot its ends against --a suitable seatv .providedupon the arm 29. The other end of this spring .is connected to a-bolt .33 threaded in. one of the 'plates24 whereby the compression of said spring may be readily adjusted- Referring-now to Fig-10f the; drawings whereinyT have shown the operating circuit;

:"for'the door actuating mechanism, it 1willzbe observedthet :the stationaryfmembers. of the. contacts-8 and 9 of: the cut. "out. devicesware" connectedto the contacts 25? andv 25'-;'respeo--.

tively by meansot the wires:3t emcee. .:-.36-

indicates the generator :or other electric sup plyf-s' urce'wh'ch is connected by means of meaeoe the wire a a; the contatt ate. 25 A pair of current conductingwire's 38, 38 are connected *tocontacts 25 and '26 respec v tivelyand to the operating motor, and a wire 39 for the reversal of the motor is connected to the contact member 26. 'JA return wire 40 connected to the current supply source 36 andfito th'e magnet of an electric brake arrenged-upon themotor shaft, the other terminal of the electromagnet being connected by means of the wire 4:1 tothe motor.

elm-the, circuitill. is placed an operators switch. having-two contacts, one of which is asprilig arm actuated to normally holdthe 0112011111"0D8I1. .Whe.n the car.arrives at a landmgiiand the bperators controller lever is thrown to a position to bring the car to rest,- -the, 'eontroller handle is pushed into suchtz position. that the spring arm of the switch is moved to complete the circuit. 11 and the, door is'movedto its open position. When the cards to be started the first movement of the operator will be-to pull the han-' dle from the switch-casing-so that the lever may be swung. -This movement will release the spring arm contact of the switch; and the circuit 11 .will be broken and the door will be automatically closed. The lever is now freeto be swung to start the car.

vThe detailsof this switch are not claimed herein, butare made thesubjectof my copendingapplication for patent filed December- 25%,.1912, and numbered serially 738,495, above referred to;

By means of this arrangement of the cir;

away from the armature plate 20, thespring I 32 acting. against the 111711129 overcomes the weight of-ithe armature. plate and forces the contact members 31.;-anjd'-31 carried by arm 29v into'engagementwith the contacts 26, 26?, 26 and 26. 1131s understood, of course, that whemthe gate is moved toits fullopen position the :circuitis hreken {through the cut out 9 The return of: the contacts 31 and 31 on'ithe.-.arm; 29 to their normalpositions in engagement. with theeontacts 26, 26, 26

andi26 closes the circuit through the cut -,With the door in .i'ts'openvposition; as shown; in Fig l, the, .gfirstgmeyementj-to start thecariwiltbe to-throw the switch 12. This will deenergize the magnet 10 and the spring 32 will throw the arm 29 and cause'the member 31 to bridge the contacts 26 and26 and causethe member 31 to bridge the contacts 26 and 26.

follows, from source 36 through wire 37,

contact 25, wire 34, cut out 8, wire 34, contact 26, member 31, contact 26, wire 38, which includes contact 25*, armature of motor 7, wire 38 which includes contact 25 contact 26", member 31, contact 26, wire 39,

field coils" of motor 7 wire 41, brake solenoid, wire 40 to source 36, and close the door.

- In case the operation of the switch 12 fails, for any reason, to denergize themag- 15 net 10, the movement of the car will remove the magnet from its armature, the spring 32 will throw the arm 29 and the circuit, as traced, will be made. As the door approaches its closed position the cam on the left of the screw will engagethe roller on the movable element of thecut out 8 and break the circuit at that point, but asa circuit has previously been made by the movable element of the cut out 9, when the cam at the right hand end of the screw leaves it, the door will continue to the full extent of its closing movement. 7

- When the car returns to the position shown in Fig. 1, or another car reaches the switch,

'30the magnet 10 will attract the armature 20 against the spring 32 and the arm will be v thrown to the position shown. The current will now flow from the source 36 through wire 37, contact 25, member 31%, contact 25,

wire 38, armature (in reverse direction) wire 38, contact 25*, member 31, contact 25, wire 34", cut out 9, wire 35, contact 26,wire 39, field of motor, wire 41, brake solenoid,

' wire-40 to source, and open the door. 40

construction and manner of operation of my improved floor selector switch for elevator door operating apparatus will be clearly un derstoo'd. It will be apparent that as the operation of the gate is electrically controlled, the same cannot be manually moved from its open or closed positions. By means of my improved switch, even if the car operator neglects to deenergize the magnet 10 and starts the car, the movable arm 29 .will,

nevertheless, be thrown to engageithe contacts thereon with the contacts 26, 26*, 26 and 26 and effect the closing movement of the gate when the magnet on the car moves away from the armatureplate 20, It will also be appreciated that by means of a switch constructed in the manner above described, the operator is relieved of much manual labor incident to the opening and closing of 0 the elevator doors or gates and liability of accident and serious injuryto persons often dueto the fact that the gates are negligently left open by the operator, is entirely obvi- 'ated. J

5 As my improved switch comprises but few The current will now flow as From the foregoing, it is believed that the elements which are of simple form, it will be obvious that the same can be produced at small cost and is. not liable to become easily broken and will therefore require but few and infrequent repairs. It will be obvious that the invention is not limited in its practlcal application to the specific combinationand arrangement of the several parts as disclosed in the accompanying drawings, as many mlnor alterations in the form, construction and proportion of the several elements may be necessitated by special circumstances due to differences in elevator constructions; I, therefore, do not wish to be limited to the precise construction of the device hereinbefore specified but reserve the right'to make such modifications therein as jmay fairly fall within the scope of the appended-claims. I

Having thus described the invention, what 5 is claimed is:

. 1. The combination .with elevator door operating means and" an electric circuit therefor, of a floor selector switch includ ing a plurality of series of contacts arranged in said circuit, a movable contact carrying member arranged between said contacts, means normally holding the contacts on said movable member in engagement-with one series of the stationary contacts to close the circuit and operate said door, actuating mechanism to close the door, and manually controlled electrically operated means carried by the elevator car to move said movable member and engage the contacts thereon with the other series of contacts and reverse the operation of the actuating mechanism -and open the door I 2. The combination with electrically controlled door operating mechanism and a circuit therefor cut out device'sin said circuit to break the same at the'end of the opening and closing movements of the door, of oppositely disposed series of stationary contacts arranged in said circuit, movable contact .members arranged between said series of stationary contacts, means normally holding said movable contacts in engagement with one series of stationary contacts to close the circuit and move the elevator door to its closed position, and electrically operated, manually controlled means to engage the movable contacts with the other series of stationary contacts and reverse the operation of said door operating mechanism to move the door to its open position.

3. The: combination with electrically con-. trolled elevator door operating mechanism and a circuit therefor, cut out devices in the circuit to break the same at the end of the opening and closing movements of; the door, of a floor selector switch located in said circuit comprising oppositely disposed series of stationary contacts, movable contact members arranged between said series of stationary contacts, an armature plate and connections between the same and the movable contacts,.m'eans normally holding said armature plate and move the movable contacts into engagement with the other-series of stationary contacts and reversethe operation of said door operating mechanism to open the door.

4. The combination with electrically controlled elevator door operating mechanism and an electric circuit therefor, cut out devices in-the circuit to break'the same at the end of the opening and closingmovements of the door, of a'floor selector switch including oppositely disposed series of contacts located inthe operating circuit, a shaft, a contact carrying arm fixed to said shaft and disposed-between said spaced'series of contacts, an armature plate mounted upon the arm, means normally holding the contacts on said arm in engagement with one series of stationary contacts to close the electric circuit for the closing movement of the door, and a manually controlled electromagnet carried by the elevator car to attract the armature plate and move the arm to engage the contacts thereon with the other series of stationary contacts and reverse the operation of the door operating mechanism to open the door.

.5. The combination with electrically controlled elevator door operating mechanism, and a circuit therefor, cut outdevices in said circuit, of spaced series of contacts wired in the circuit with said out out devices, an armature plate, movable contact members connected to said armature plate, and disposed between the spaced series of stationary contacts-means yieldingly holding said movable. contacts in engagement .with one series of the stationary contacts to close the circuit for the closing movement of theelevator door,.and manually controlled electromagnet carried by the elevator car to attract the armature plate and move the movable contacts into engagement with the other series of stationary contacts to reverse the operation oft-he door operating mechanism and move the door to' its open position. v

-6. The combination with electrically controlled elevator door operating mechanism, and a circuit therefor, cut out devices in said circuit, of spaced series ofcontacts wired in the circuit with said out out devices, an armature plate, movable contact members connected to said armature plate and disposed between-the spaced series of stationary contacts, means yieldingly holding said movable contacts in engagement masses with one series of the stationary contacts to close the circuitfor the closing movement of the elevator door, an'electromagnet carried by the elevator car to attract the armatui'e plate and move the movable contacts into'engagement' with the other series of stationary contactsto reverse the" operation of the door operating mechanism and move the door to its 'open position,-and an adjustable abutment to limit the movement of the armature plate toward the magnet. lly controlled elevator door operating mechanism' 7. The combination with electric and a circuit.theref or,.of cut out devices in the circuit to break the same at the end of the opening and closing movements of the door, of a. floor selector switch comprising a plurality of series of stationary contacts, a

rocker armextending between said series of contacts, spaced contact members on the rocker arm, a spring acting against said arm to normally hold said contact members in engagement with one series of stationary movement .of the elevator door, and manually controlled electrically operated means for rocking said arm whenthe elevator car is stopped at the floor landing to engage contacts and close the circuit for the closing I the contacts-thereon with the other series of the circuit to break the same at the end of the opening and closing movements of the door, of a floor selector switch comprising oppositely disposed series of stationary contacts, a rocker arm extending between said series of contacts, spaced contactmembers on the rocker arm, a spring acting against said arm to normally hold said contact members in engagement with. one seri es ofv stationary contacts and close the circuit for I the closing movement of the elevator door, an armatureplate, connecting means between said plate and the rocker arm, and manually controlled electro'magnet carried by the car to attract the armature plate and 1 move the arm to engage the contacts carried thereby with the other series of stationary contacts to reverse the door operating mechanism and move. the door-to its open position.

.9. .The combination With electrically conand a circuit therefor, cut' out devices in said circuit, of a floor selector switch comprising oppositely disposed seriesof stationary contacts located in the operating circuit, a rock shaft,an-arm fixed to said shaft, contacts carried by said arm to normally engage W'ith one of the stationary contacts to close the circuit for the closing movement of the.

door, .an armature plate, links connectingtrolled levatorudoor operating mechanism said plate to said shaft, and an electromagnet carried by the car to attract the armature plate and move the contacts on said arm in engagement with the other series of station- .ary contacts to reverse said door operating the circuit for the closing movement of the door, an armature plate, links connecting said plate to said shaft, an electromagnet carried by the car to attract the armature plate and move the contacts on said arm in engagement with the other series of stationary contacts to reverse said door operating mechanism and move the door to its open position, and an abutment for limiting the movement of said armature plate.

11. The combination with electrically controlled elevator door operating mechanism, and a circuit therefor, of a floor selector switch comprising a supporting arm, spaced series of stationary contacts mounted upon. said arm and wired in the operating circuit, parallel rock shafts mounted in said arm, movable contact members mounted upon one of said shafts and disposed between the series of stationary contacts, means normally holding said movable members in en gagement with one series of stationary contacts to close the circuit for movement of the door to its closed position, an armature plate, links connecting the said plate to the rock shafts, and an electr'oma gnet mounted upon the elevator car to attract said armature plate and move the movable contacts into engagement with the other series .of stationary said arm and wired in the operating circuit, parallel rock shafts mounted in said arm, movable contact members mounted upon one of said shafts and disposed between the series of stationary contacts, means normally holding said movable members in engagement with one. series of stationary contacts to close the circuitfor movement of the door to its closed position, an armature plate, links connecting thesaid plate to the rock shafts, an electromagnet mounted upon the elevator car to attract said armature plate and move the movable contacts into engagement with the other series of stationary contacts to reverse the door operating means and move the door to its open position, and an adjustable abutment mounted upon said arm to limit the movement of said armature plate. I I

13. The combination with motor actuated elevator door operating mechanism, and a circuit therefor, a floor selector switch in said circuit including an armature plate, of an electromagnet carried by the elevatorcar to cooperate with the armature of said switch plate and close the circuit through the motor to open the elevator door, a circuit for the electromagnet, a car controller, and an operators switch the movable element of which is the lever of the car controller.

14:. The combination with motor actuated elevator door operating mechanism, and a circuit therefor, a floor selector switch in said circuit including an armature plate, of an electromagnet carried by the elevator car to cooperate with the armature plate of said switch and close the circuit through the motor to open the elevator door, a circuitfor the 'electromagnet, 'a car controller, an

operators switch comprising stationary and movable contacts arranged in the magnet circuit, a manually operated handle mounted upon the car controller and movable with relation thereto, and means movable with said handle to close the magnet circuit.

In testimony whereofI hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.-

HOOD PIT'IS.

' Witnesses: 4

W. B. ANTHONY, Gno. T. HUME. 

